getting staaarted (really)

[baffle-ed]

Very first question:
Alright--Cubase looks like a good program. But there are questions I'd like answered before I start casting money in one direction or the other. I use an iMac which has a G3 processor, a 40G hard-drive and 256M RAM--so I don't think memory/operating space will be an issue. Now, what do I need besides the software program? The music I'm making is pretty much acoustic guitars, harmonica, voices, djembes, and yeah, all the other folksy shit. So, obviously I'm looking at microphones/cables, a mixing board, and...?
What sort of sound card do I need? What EXACTLY connects the mixing board to the computer? What's the best thing I can do to circumvent all these "software edition" problems other people seem to be having?
Thanks.

 

[Chris Tondreau]

Think of Cubase as little more than your interface between you and your recorder - with a whole whack of features thrown in. So... what would you need between you and a recorder (ie. your hard drive) ?

It depends on a number of things. A mixer of some description is helpful in pretty much any situation - even if just for routing audio signals between different places as you record/monitor/play back stuff you are doing entirely yourself. If you are recording a number of musicians simultaneously, then a mixer is most certainly mandatory, and you'll likely be looking at something with at least eight channels.

You'll need mics, cables, pre-amps, etc. How many? Depends on how many you'll want/need/afford. Your mixer may well come with its own pre-amps - maybe you'll like them, and maybe you won't. A variety of mics is nice - different tools for different jobs, you know.

Your soundcard will depend entirely on what you want it to do. Each individual input may well come in handy. If you're only recording yourself at any given time, a card with two ins and two outs is probably sufficient. If you're going to micing up a drum kit, though, I'd go no less than four inputs. If you're tracking a whole band, then you'll probably want at least 8 ins. The quality, again, will depend on what you want it to do. M-Audio makes a wide range of respectable cards for a wide range of applications. Many people are happy with Soundblaster cards, but most audio people will strongly suggest that you look at something better. The outputs on Soundblaster cards are great, but the inputs are less than spectacular. (an exaggeration of this would be to record something over your phone answering machine (crappy inputs), and then play it back over a kick-a** stereo system. The results will still be less than pleasing.)

Your mixing board may well be the last thing between you and your computer - it will typically have it's outputs assigned to the inputs of your soundcard, which is, essentially, the first contact with your computer.

Software editions.... the only way to avoid this is to avoid software. I built a pretty decent system a little over two years ago, loaded in Windows 98SE, Cubase VST, and all was great. Now, I can't get Cubase SX until I upgrade my processor to a PIII, my OS to Windows XP (or thereabouts).... In order to do that, I have to get a new motherboard.

Chris